Laser Masters World Championships - Smiles all round

8:55 PM Thu 3 Sep 2009 GMT

'Laser Masters World Championships' Matias Capizzano &copy

2009 Nautel Laser Masters World Championships. The sea breeze returned to St. Margaret's Bay on Thursday providing one of the best days of sailing yet for the fleets.

'There were a lot of smiles out there today,' said Gerry Giffin, president of the Canadian Yachting Association and a competitor. 'This is what people came here for, some great days of racing.'

The Laser Masters is for sailors 35 years of age and older. It's divided by age group and by rig. The Radial rig has a slightly smaller sail and mast than the Standard. This is the first time in almost 30 years the Laser Worlds have been held in Canada. The Laser is a small single sail, single-handed boat designed forty years ago in Canada.

In the Standard rig, Apprentice fleet (35 years old to 44), Adonis Bougiouris of Greece remains in first, Australia's Brett Beyer is second, and Orlando Gledhill of Great Britain is in third. Canadian Ray Davies is in fourth.

The Masters Standard (45 to 54 years old) is divided into the gold and silver fleets. American Scott Ferguson is in first in the gold fleet, Arnoud Hummel of the Netherlands is in second, and American Andrew Pimenthal is in third. Canadian Andy Roy has fallen to sixth place. In the silver fleet, Ireland's Kevin Currier is in first, Canada's Robert Muru in second and Jan Lerkens of the United Arab Emirates in third.

For Grand Masters (55 and over) Standard rig, Wolfgang Gerz of Germany continues to dominate and remains in first place, Australian Mark Bethwaite is in second and Alan Keen of South Africa is in third.

In the Radial rig; Australian Richard Bott is in first, Scott Leith of New Zealand is in second, and Australian Grant Willmott is third in the Apprentice fleet.

For the Masters; Carlos Eduardo Wanderley of Brazil remains in first, Australian Greg Adams is in second and Brazilian Joao Ramos has moved to third. Australian Peter Heywood continues to lead the Radial Grand Masters with Brits Ian Rawet and Michael Pridham in second and third.

For the Great Grand Masters (65 years old and up); Peter Seidenberg of the US is in first, Australian Kerry Waraker in second and Michael Kinnear of Great Britain in third.

Twenty of the 297 competitors at the Laser Masters Worlds are women, one third are older than 55, and 47 are older than 65 years of age.